PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Coral Reefs Offer Stunning Images of a World Under Assault; Duo Shares to Raise Awareness (Maria)
The author writes, “Humans don’t know what they’re missing under the surface of a busy shipping channel in the ‘cruise capital of the world.’ Just below the keels of massive ships, an underwater camera provides a live feed from another world, showing marine life that’s trying its best to resist global warming. That camera in Miami’s Government Cut is just one of the many ventures of a marine biologist and a musician who’ve been on a 15-year mission to raise awareness about dying coral reefs by combining science and art to bring undersea life into pop culture.”
Ukraine Civilian Deaths ‘Thousands Higher’ Than Official Toll: UN (Mili)
The author writes, “Thousands more civilians have been killed in Ukraine in the war there, which has been going on for more than two months, than the official United Nations death toll of 3,381, the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country has said. ‘Overall, to date, we have corroborated 7,061 civilian casualties, with 3,381 killed and 3,680 injured across the country since the beginning of the armed attack by the Russian Federation. The actual figures are higher and we are working to corroborate every single incident,’ Matilda Bogner told a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.”
‘I Simply Refuse’: Wiretaps Catch Putin’s Troops Breaking Own Tanks in Sabotage Scheme (Sean)
The author writes, “Russian fighters have been sharing tips with one another about how to deliberately damage their own equipment and hamper Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war plans in Ukraine, according to recordings of alleged Russian troops’ phone calls that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) intercepted. In one regiment, one Russian soldier allegedly said they’ve been pouring sand into the tanks’ fuel systems to clog them up.”
US Police Trainers With Far-Right Ties Are Teaching Hundreds of Cops (Reader Jim)
From Reuters: “One police instructor who has taught 560 officers in recent years has joined one extremist group and supported other far-right movements. Others have echoed QAnon and other fringe conspiracy theories on social media, a Reuters examination found.”
The Limits of Privilege (Reader Steve)
From The Cut: “As we teeter on the threshold of the post-Roe world, it’s worth considering that the message that privileged women will be just fine is inaccurate and that its repetition, while well meaning, is counterproductive to the task of readying an unprepared public for massive and terrifying shifts on the horizon. It’s worth pointing out that it is simply not true that the reproductive options of white, middle-class, and even wealthy people are going to remain the same. Because while circumstances will certainly be graver and more perilous for the already vulnerable, the reality is that everything is about to change, for everyone, in one way or another, and to muffle that alarm is an error, factually, practically, and politically.”
Facing Soaring Rents, Some US Tenants Are Fighting Back (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Before the start of each month, Anh-Thu Nguyen and her two roommates send rental checks to their landlord. A few days later, the checks are mailed back. The bizarre ritual began soon after the March 2021 purchase of Nguyen’s Brooklyn building by a shadowy real estate firm called Greenbrook Partners, which told residents they had to leave by June 30. Some neighbors moved out, but Nguyen and tenants from four other units sued the financially connected Greenbrook, one of several investor-backed rental housing firms to draw scrutiny in Washington.”
A Visit to the Human Factory (Dana)
From The Verge: “Will Jackson, CEO of robotics company Engineered Arts, says he isn’t sure what’s worse: the angry emails that accuse him of building machines that will one day overthrow humanity or the speculative ones enquiring if the sender can fuck the robots. ‘Everybody wants to see a humanoid robot,’ Jackson says. ‘They love to imagine all these things that are going to happen. Part of what we do is fulfilling that desire.’ (Though not, he is careful to stress, the sex-robot stuff.)”
